ACLJ Urges Armed Services Committees to Intervene for War Hero SFC Martland
Article by Benjamin P. Sisney, ACLJ, February 5, 2016
"We’re gaining momentum in our work on behalf of Bronze Star Medal recipient, Green Beret Sergeant First Class (SFC) Charles Martland, who is set for expulsion from the United States Army for protecting a young child from extreme sexual abuse at the hands of an Afghan commander.
We’ve reported on the injustice of SFC Martland’s situation several times, going back to this past fall when the news broke. At the ACLJ, we’ve engaged a multi-pronged legal strategy and our legal and government affairs teams are working tirelessly on our mission. But we needed to hear from you.
We asked you to do three things to help us in our efforts to defend SFC Martland: sign our Petition, call your Senators and Representatives, and spread the word on social media. You’ve responded. Almost 230,000 Americans have signed our petition. Members of Congress are hearing from you. The word is spreading on social media. You’ve made your voice heard, and now we are amplifying your voice on Capitol Hill.
We just delivered legal letters to the Chairmen and Ranking Members of both the Senate (Chairman John McCain and Ranking Member Jack Reed) and House (Chairman Mac Thornberry and Ranking Member Adam Smith) Armed Services Committees urging them to intervene on behalf of SFC Martland. We set forward four specific requests:
First, we respectfully urge you to inform your [congressional] Committee colleagues of this matter and about the injustice that is about to transpire.
Second, we respectfully urge you and your [congressional] Committee colleagues to convene a hearing to ask senior Army officials to justify before your Committee their punishing an outstanding soldier for intervening to defend a defenseless young boy from the sexual abuse of a corrupt Afghan official.
Third, we respectfully urge you and your [congressional] Committee colleagues to ask senior Army officials why, if his conduct had been so egregious, they had not barred SFC Martland from reenlisting and had, instead, allowed him to reenlist.
Fourth, we respectfully urge you to request that the Chairman convene a hearing to investigate reports cited in the press that Department of Defense officials had instructed Service Members not to interfere with the Afghan “cultural” practice of sexually abusing young boys.
Our letters emphasized how the Army’s punishment of SFC Martland “constituted a devastating blow in the battle to win the hearts and minds of everyday Afghans,” by empowering “rapists to continue committing despicable acts with defenseless children.” We warned of the message SFC Martland’s expulsion sends to our troops. And we explained how SFC Martland stopped abuse which constitutes a crime under United States military law, Afghan law, and international law: Any order prohibiting our troops from defending young children from sexual predators would be unlawful.
We also called to attention the shamefulness of the apparent policy directing our soldiers to simply report such abuse up the chain of command – so that it could be reported to Afghan commanders. This case highlights the absurdity of this policy: The abuser was the Afghan commander.
The young victim’s mother begged the Army to protect her child from his abuser. SFC Martland responded. Now SFC Martland is being punished.
In addition to these vital letters to key congressional committees, we have also sent critical legal letters to President Obama, Army Chief of Staff General Mark Milley, Army Deputy Chief of Staff General James McConville, and two letters to Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter.
As momentum builds, the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) announced its concern that “Martland is being punished for doing what I would hope anyone would do when encountering a wrong.” The involvement of veterans organizations like the VFW is significant and an import step forward in turning the tide.
Our efforts, and yours, are beginning to yield fruit. Our multi-pronged legal strategy to defend SFC Martland and others who are willing to do what is right in the face of abject evil is making significant progress. We will continue to advocate for SFC Martland and make your voice heard here in Washington. The time to speak, the time to act, is now.
If you have not yet done so, please sign our petition, contact your Members of Congress (using these simple talking points), and share your concern on social media."
Article by Benjamin P. Sisney, ACLJ, February 5, 2016
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Army Kicking Out Green Beret For Protecting A Child Against Abuse
Article written by Tim Wildmon, Illinois Family Institute, October 2, 2015
"When a decorated soldier was told to turn a blind eye from intervening in the case of a child who was being repeatedly raped and beaten, he knew it was an order he had to refuse. Now, doing the right thing will cost him his career. Sgt 1st Class Charles Martland, a Green Beret, learned from a 12 year-old Afghan boy’s mother that an Afghan police commander had chained her son to his bed in order to repeatedly abuse him…all occurring on a United States military base. The commander was being trained under Sgt. Martland’s mentorship.
Sgt. Martland confronted the Afghan rapist on a U.S. military base in Afghanistan, who admitted and laughed off his sexually abusive actions, disregarding the concerns. Like any red-blooded American would (and should) do, Sgt. Martland would not stand by and allow the child to be hurt any longer.
A physical altercation broke out between Sgt. Martland and the Afghan commander. Sgt. 1st Class Charles Martland admits he confronted the Afghan police commander and physically threw him off the base because he was fed up with the commander’s brutal sexual abuse of a village boy.
For protecting a child against an admitted rapist, Sgt. Martland has been told he will be dismissed from the military in November.
Did you catch that? Instead of standing with a soldier who was protecting a child against an admitted rapist, the military is kicking him out! I can’t imagine anyone who wouldn’t have done the same thing in Sgt. Martland’s boots.
I certainly wouldn’t punish any man for doing what any man should do…stepping in to protect a defenseless child from physical abuse!
No matter where our soldiers serve, no matter what local customs may dictate, every person serving in our military has a moral obligation to protect children anywhere and anytime abuse occurs."
Article written by Tim Wildmon, Illinois Family Institute, October 2, 2015
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The Blatant Moral Injustice Of Bowe Bergdahl Vs. Sergeant Martland
Article by Matthew Clark (Diary), Red State, October 12, 2015
"Bowe Bergdahl stands accused of deserting his post to cavort with the enemy. Sergeant Charles Martland stands accused of forcefully removing a child rapist from a U.S. military base in order to defend a child.
Bergdahl was treated as a hero by the Obama Administration. The Administration went so far as to release five Taliban terrorists held at Guantanamo Bay to secure his release to further the Administration’s objective of closing that military detention facility.
[On the other hand] Sergeant Martland – a decorated Green Beret – may be kicked out of the military because he was willing to stand up and defend a child, a child who was sexually abused by an Afghan commander.
Both happened in Afghanistan. Both involve deeply moral questions. And both this Administration is coming down firmly in the morally reprehensible camp.
As my colleague Benjamin Sisney explained:
SFC Martland’s situation has received national attention following the September 21, 2015, New York Times report. The report outlined allegations that U.S. ground troops were being ordered to ignore the sexual abuse of children at the hands of “friendly” Afghan militia leaders.
One young Marine, Lance Corporal (LCpl) Gregory Buckley Jr. told his father that, from his bunk, he could hear Afghan police officers sexually abusing boys they had brought to the base. “At night we can hear them screaming, but we’re not allowed to do anything about it.” Sickeningly, it appears that U.S. commanders permit ALP commanders to bring their “harem” of young children to stay with them on the base. Sadly, just days later, LCpl Buckley was shot to death on the base by one of the boys accompanying an ALP commander.
Under President Obama’s watch – as Commander-in-Chief – the military is reportedly ignoring rampant child sexual abuse, even on U.S. bases, by Afghan forces because as LCpl Buckley’s father told the New York Times, 'My son said that his officers told him to look the other way because it’s their culture.'
For exposing this travesty and taking direct action to protect a child, Sergeant Martland faces involuntary removal from the Army. Yet, as CNN reports, the U.S. military may let Bergdahl go free:
The U.S. military officer in charge of last month’s hearing for Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl has recommended he not do any jail time, Bergdahl’s legal team says.
In a memorandum dated Friday, the legal team said it agreed with Lt. Col. Mark Visger’s conclusion that their client be referred to a special court-martial and receive neither jail time nor a punitive discharge.
The recommendation, which hasn’t been announced publicly by the U.S. military, is a significant development for Bergdahl, who in March was charged with desertion and misbehavior before the enemy.
It’s an unthinkable travesty.
How could our military allow a reported deserter to go free, even allowing him to stay in the military, while at the same time discharging a hero?
It’s an unthinkable travesty and morally reprehensible.
As Sergeant Martland correctly noted:
"I chose the morally right decision because moral law transcends all boundaries and organizations," said Martland, who was a walk-on on the Florida State University football team before joining the Army. "I learned about the moral right from the Christian values and beliefs of Coach Bobby Bowden at Florida State University. We all learned about the moral right during the Penn State football program’s child sex abuse scandal."
Clearly there is a misalignment of priorities. To punish Sergeant Martland for protecting a child and let Bergdahl go free is a blatant injustice.
At the ACLJ, we’re preparing to send a legal letter to the Secretary of Defense demanding Sergeant Martland’s reinstatement and the end to any policy that allows child sexual abuse to occur on our bases (you can add your name to our letter here).
It is our duty as a nation, our duty to the brave servicemen and women who serve with honor and distinction, to punish deserters and to honor, protect, and empower those who defend human rights.
Article by Matthew Clark (Diary), Red State, October 12, 2015
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Shocking Child Sexual Abuse In Afghanistan Makes SFC Martland’s Removal From Military More Disturbing - ACLJ
Today, February 8, 2016, Google had many links to the ACLJ on this continuing story of the Obama Regime attacking one of our own. This is while other news organizations seemed no longer interested about this continuing story, just more stuff reminding us of Obama's disgusting workplace violence from several years ago.
Maybe Lady GaGa can get involved, seeing her performance at the 2016 Super Bowl, the same song that the then 'candidate' Obama gave his famous crotch salute to at a Democrat fundraiser in 2007, folding his hands over his private parts as another singer sang the National Anthem live? - Webmaster
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